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Tracking natural and anthropogenic environmental impacts across land-atmosphere-ocean interfaces with the Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) sensor; where we will see what and when.
Dirk
Aurin, SSAI @ NASA GSFC, dirk.a.aurin@nasa.gov
(Presenter)
GEO-CAPE will improve our capability for evaluating atmospheric, littoral and coastal ocean dynamics by sampling high temporal variability with hourly measurements and spatial scales of a few hundred meters. Geostationary satellites have a fixed view of Earth for the duration of their mission, so careful consideration must be given to the selection of orbital position and sensor orientation to optimize data coverage. A programmable telescope enables rapid repeat sampling of a region, and targeted studies to evaluate the impacts of short-term events such as spills, storms and tidal mixing. The effective coverage for GEO-CAPE is determined by the satellite’s position, the sensor’s viewing angle (GVA), and the solar zenith angle (SZA) which dictates light availability. GVA and SZA are used to calculate the air mass fraction (AMF) which is mapped hourly over the course of the two annual solstices and the spring equinox. These maps show that placement of GEO-CAPE over the equator at 95 W provides at least partial coverage (AMF < 4.0) of North American coastal waters between ~0700 – 1800 (GEO-CAPE local time), and of South American waters between ~0600 – 1600. Coverage extends to ~40 N/S latitude in winter, and ~50 N/S in summer. This translates into coverage as far north as New Jersey on the east coast and Northern California on the west coast during the northern winter, and as far south as Buenos Aires, Argentina and Valparaiso, Chile during the southern winter. Coverage of any one region in the mid- to low-latitudes extends to ~6 (~8) hours in winter (summer). Small offshore regions of the Atlantic and Pacific are available as early as ~0500 and as late as ~1930 throughout the year. Implications for sensor coverage in coastal waters associated with varying the swath width of the coastal ecosystem sensor between 350 km and 500 km (x 750 km) will also be examined. Presentation Type: Poster Session: Coupled Processes at Land-Atmosphere-Ocean Interfaces (Mon 4:00 PM) Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 3
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